Supervisor Rodoni picks up on Mendo Supes Legalization Vote; Seeks Public Input

At the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting on June 12, 2007, Supervisor Rodger Rodoni raised the news that his fellow Supervisor/Libertarian rancher John Pinches of Mendocino county drafted a letter in support of marijuana legalization to be sent to President Bush, Congressman Mike Thompson, Senators Boxer and Feinstein, the governor and other area representatives. Rodoni reported that in a 4-1 vote the Mendo Board voted to send the letter, with only the dissent of Supervisor Delbar, who Rodoni called 'behind the times.'

Rodoni said Mendocino's action resonated in many phone calls and emails he has been receiving from a wide range of county residents. He added that he was surprised by the folks that have called and wanted to talk, who thought it was high time we devote dollars, time and energy in another direction. He called for more conversation on the topic and indicated to the board that the topic would soon be before them.

In an interview later that day with KMUD correspondent Daniel Mintz, Rodoni called marijuana growing a 'tremendous economic activity in the county, which generally means a revenue stream' for the county to pay for roads, law enforcement and other services. But the marijuana trade is 'totally absent from owning up to a piece of the action, and it's not right,' he said.

Asked if he thought there might be a negative effect to legalization, in the lowering of the price for marijuana, Rodoni replied that he thought if so there might be a downward adjustment in the price of land. Mintz reported that his answer to the question of legalization's effect on children was, 'How many kids are sitting in cars in front of bars in Humboldt while their parents are inside getting drunk?'

In proposing the letter to his fellow supervisors on June 5, Pinches said the estimated yearly value of Mendocino's marijuana crop is $5 billion and it could generate $50 million in taxes. Last year a record 227,019 plants were seized in Mendocino county last year, according to law enforcement. Mendo Sheriff Tom Allman, who said he neither supported nor opposed the letter, said he believed less than 10 percent of the crop was being confiscated. But Undersheriff Gary Hudson, who attended the meeting, said 'anything that continues to send a message that our county is open to growers or friendly to growers is a concern.' Growers have come to Mendocino County from out of state because they erroneously believe it's legal there, said attorney Susan Jordan, who has represented some of the growers in court and supports legalization.

'After 40 years, I don't think that anybody can deny that what we're doing has failed and failed dramatically,' Pinches said. 'Whether you love marijuana or you hate marijuana, in my opinion, it makes little sense to have it in the status that it's in right now.' By legalizing the substance, he continued, it could be regulated like alcohol, with rules about who could purchase it, who could sell it, and where it could be sold.

The letter states that leaders in the federal government should be called upon to initiate, sponsor and support legislation that calls for the legalization, regulation and taxation of the crop. Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica and Oakland are mandated to send similar letters by voter initiatives that passed in their districts. Mendocino passed Measure G, in favor of legalization, in 2000.